Slicing machine



a 8, 944- G. R. WOOD 2,355,354

SLICING MACHINE Filed Sept. 15, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

GEORGE R. WOOD INVENTOR ATTORNEY 1944- G. R.- wooo 2,355,354

SLICING MACHINE Filed Sept. 15, 1941 '5 Sheets-Sheet 2 GEORG E R. WOOD INVENTOR WORNE$ 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 HH UE INVENTOR GEORGE R WOOD ATTORNEY Aug. 8, 1944, G.- R. WOOD SLIGING MACHINE- Filed Sept. 15, 1.941

Aug. 1944. G. R. WOOD 2,355,354

SLIDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 15, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 1944; G. R. woon 2,355,354

SLICING MACHINE Filed Sept. 15, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 'G EORGE R WOOD INVENTOR Pa'tent eJ -Aug. 8,1944 Y 2,355,354 SLICING MACHINE George R. Wood, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, as-

signor to Toledo Scale Company,

Toledo, Ohio,

a corporation of New Jersey Application September 15, 1941, Serial No. 410,927

1 Claim.

This invention relates to slicing machines, and particularly to slicing machines of the type in which the commodity to be sliced is carried in an inclined commodity tray which is adapted to be moved back and forth over the cutting edge of a revolving circular knife, the commodity being fed to the knife by gravity. Certain features of the invention, however, are applicable also to other types of slicing machines.

It is an object of the invention to provide a slicer having a simple and readily removable commodity tray and commodity tray bracket, the construction of the machine being such that, with the commodity tray and commodity tray bracket removed, the machine is especially adapted for de-rinding, de-crusting and otherwise trimming meats and other commodities.

Another object is the provision of a slicing machine having a commodity tray so mounted on a concealed carriage, traveling on concealed rails, as to be easily moved to and fro over a' revolving knife edge.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description, in which reference ls had to the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention and wherein like reference numerals designate similar parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings:

Fig. I is a view in perspective showing a. slicing machine embodying the invention.

Fig. II is a front elevational view showing principal parts of the slicing machine of the invention in vertical section, taken substantially through the axis of rotation of the revoluble circular knife plate.

Fig. III is a left-side elevational view of the slicing machine, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section.

Fig. IV is a right-side elevational view of the machine with the commodity tray removed and with parts shown in section substantially along the line IV-IV of Fig. II.

Fig. V is a front elevational view with parts broken away and parts shown in section, taken along the line V--V of Fig. IV.

Fig. V1 is a fragmentary elevational view, taken from the position indicated by the line VI-VI of Fig. II, showing the lower end of a commodity tray supporting bracket.

Fig. VII is a fragmentary view showing the manner in which the commodity tray is adjustably secured to the commodity tray supporting bracket.

Fig. VIII is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line VIII-VIII of Fig. VII. I

Fig. IX is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line IX-IX of Fig. II.

Fig. X is an enlarged sectional view showing an adjusting knob.

Fig. X! is a fragmentary view in section taken substantially along the line IH-XI of Fig. V.

Fig. XII is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line XII-XII of Fig. V.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the machine is supported upon three rubber feet 20 which are secured, by means of screws 2|, in seats 22 formed in the lower side of a cast frame 23.

The cast frame 23 consistsprincipaliy of a base portion 24, which supports the knife-driving mechanism and the commodity receiving tray, and a housing portion 25 extending fore and aft along the right side of the base portion and enclosing and supporting a stationary shaft 26 upon which a commodity tray carriage 21 is slidably mounted.

The carriage 21 (as illustrated in Figs. II, IV and V) is substantially T shaped, with annular hearing members 28 located at the termini of its horizontal arms and encircling the stationary shaft 28. The lower end of the vertical stem of the T shaped carriage 21 carries a guide roller 29 which is located between and rolls along horizontal rails 30 and 3| that are secured to and lie along the lower part of the housing portion 25.

The rail 3| lies beneath, and is spaced from, the vertical outer wall of the housing portion 25, so that a slot is left between the rail 3| and the lower edge of the outer wall of the housing portion, and a foot 32 of the vertical stem of the carriage 21 is turned outwardly through this slot and terminates in an enlarged, machined pad 33.

A commodity tray supporting bracket 34, having a complementary machined seat 35, is secured by means of a knurled screw 36, to the foot of the carriage 21, the machined pad on the carriage and the machined seat on the bracket being firmly engaged and prevented from turning relative to each other about the axis of the knurled screw 36 by suitable rabbets.

To facilitate removal and replacement of the commodity tray bracket 34, a slot 31 is cut downwardly from the shank of the screw 36 so that when the screw is loosened and the machined pad and seat are disengaged the bracket may be lifted without entirely removing the screw.

The upper end of the bracket 34 is curved over the top of the housing portion 25 and provided with atrough-like seat within which the V shaped bottom of a commodity tray 38 is secured by means of screws 39 in a manner which will be specifically described hereinafter. A handle 40 is fixed to the commodity tray bracket 34 to facilitate manual fore-and-aft reciprocation of the commodity tray, the handle being so placed that the operators thumb or fingers are not liable to touch the knife when the handle is grasped.

Mounted upon the base portion 24 of the cast frame 23 is an electric motor 4! having a shaft 42 upon which is fixed a worm 43 that extends into a gear casing 44, also mounted upon the base portion 24, the gear casing being further secured to the motor.

The gear casing 44 is provided with a cylindrical opening 45, the axis of which extends upwardly and to the right at an angle of approximately 45 degrees from the horizontal, and removably mounted within the cylindrical opening 45 is a sleeve 46 within which is journaled, by means of antifriction bearings, a revoluble shaft 41 (see Fig. II). Fixed upon the left end of the revoluble shaft 41 is a worm wheel 48 which meshes with and is turned by the worm 413. The portion of the gear casing 44 surrounding the worm 43 and worm wheel 48 constitutes a reservoir for lubricating oil. The sleeve 46 is retained in place in the cylindrical opening 45 by means of a setscrew 49.

Fixed near the right end of the revoluble shaft 41 is a hub to which a circular knife 5| is removably securely by means of screws 52. The knife edge thus is inclined from a vertical plane by about 45 degrees. The lower edge of the knife 5|. extends into a depression 53 in the upper wall of the housing portion 25, and, the wall of the housing portion extending forwardly from the depression 53 is formed into a flat ledge 54 lying perpendicular to the plane of the knife, the ledge being continued over the depression 53 and to the rear end of the housing portion by a flange 55 of a knife uard 56 which overlies the knife 5|. In order that the ledge may be smooth from end to end, the flange of the knife guard 55 which overlies the depression 53 inset into the upper housing surface as indicated in Fig. II. The knife guard 56 is removably held in place by pins 51 and clips 58.

The shaft 41 extends through the hub 50 and has a point turned on its end which supports the center portion of the knife guard 56 to prevent the guard from flexing inwardly under the weight of the commodity being sliced on the machine.

Located within the housing portion 25 of the cast frame 23 are a pair of aligned bosses 59 and 60 (Figs. IV and V) having aligned bores within which is slidably mounted a short, stiff rod 6| and secured, by means of a setscrew 62, to the rod BI is a gauge plate frame 63. The gauge plate frame 63 is prevented from rocking about the axis of the rod 6| by means of a stub rod 64 which is secured to the frame by a setscrew 65 and one end of which is slidably received in a bore in a third boss 66 formed within the housing portion 25. Adjustably secured,

by means of screws 61, to the upper part of the gauge plate frame 63 is a gauge plate bracket 68, upon which is removably mounted a gauge plate 69, the gauge plate 69 being removably fastened to the gauge plate bracket by means of screws threaded into strips 10' which are welded to the gauge plate. The face of the gauge plate 69 is parallel to and closely adjacent the plane of the knife 5i, and the edge of the gauge plate adjacent the edge of the knife is concavely curved to conform closely to the edge of the knife.

As the circular knife wears and thus becomes smaller, the crank between the concavely curved edge of the gauge plate and the knife edge widens. When this occurs the position of the gauge platemay be adjusted to again locate its concavity curved edge'in close proximity to the knife edge by loosening the screws 61 and moving the gauge plate bracket on the gauge plate frame. The means for making this adjustment are concealed in the housing portion 25 but are accessible from below.

Fixed to the gauge plate frame 63 is a short rack II, the teeth of which mesh with a pinion I2 fixed upon the inner end of a knob stem 13 which is rotatably mounted in a boss 14 formed within the front end of the housing portion 25. Turning of the knob stem 13 is yieldably resisted by a pair of friction washers l5 clamped between the boss 14 and a castellated nut 16 threaded upon the knob stem 13 (see Fig. X). The outer end of the knob stem 13 projects to the exterior of the housing portion 25 and is provided with a knob 11, by means of which the knob stem 13 and pinion 12 may be turned to shift the rack H, and consequently the gauge plate frame 63 and bracket 68, to adjust the face of the gauge plate 69 toward or away from the plane of the knife 5!, and thus adjust the thickness of slices to be out. A commodity lying against the gauge plate 69 may be pushed into engagement with and over the knife edge which, when the knife is rotated rapidly, will cut a slice from the commodity, the thickness of the slice depending upon the distance that the face of the gauge plate lies below and to the left of the plane of the knife edge.

The knob 11 is marked with a series of indicia l8 indicative of various thicknesses of slices, which indica cooperate with an index 79 formed upon a washer 8D interposed between the knob and the front wall of the housing portion 25. The washer 80 is held against rotation by means of a pin 8|, which also serves as a stop engageable by a projection formed upon a lock washer 82 which is keyed to the knob stem 13. Engagement of the projection with the pin 8| prevents the gauge plate 69 from being adjusted into the path of movement of the commodity tray 38. A spring 83 presses the washers 80 and 82 into frictional engagement which, assisted by the friction between the washers l5 clamped against the boss 14 by the castellated nut 16, prevents the knob stem 13 from turning accidentally, and thus holds the gauge plate 69 reliably in adjusted position.

With the commodity tray and commodity tray bracket removed from the commodity tray carriage, a commodity may be slid along the gauge plate 69 and the ledge 54 into engagement with the knife edge. It is very convenient to handle, in this way, bacon which is to be derined, bread which is to be de-crusted, and other commodities which are to be trimmed or which are to be sliced and which cannot be conveniently handled in the commodity tray.

With the commodity tray bracket and commodity tray in place, the lower left end of the commodity tray moves closely over the face of the knife guard 56. For the best operation, it is important that the end of the commodity tray move as closely as possible across the knife edge. The knife guard 56, however, overlies the knife edge at the rear of the machine. Therefore, a portion of the end of the commodity tray has been cut back, as at 38', to permit it to pass the overlying part of the knife guard at the termination ,over the knife edge.

In order that the position of the commodity tray 38 may be adjusted to bring its end very close to the face of the knife guard 56, channel members 84 are welded or brazed to the commodity tray (as shown in Figs. VII and VIII) and the channel members are provided with elongated openings 85 through which the screws 39 extend, the screws being threaded into bars 86 which, when the screws are tightened, are clamped against the interior of the channel members 84.

The motor 4I and the gear casing 44 are surrounded by a cast enclosure 81 which is fastened to the base portion 24 of the cast frame 23 by suitable lugs and screws 88. The front wall of the enclosure 81 supports a deflector plate 89 which extends from near the edge of the knife 5| to the rear edge of a slice-receiving platter 90.

The detachable mounting of the deflector plate 89 consists of a bar 9| secured within the front wall of the enclosure 81 (as indicated in Fig. XII), which bar is provided with keyhole-shaped openings 92 to receive buttons 93 that are riveted to the deflector plate 89 and extend, through slots 94 in the enclosure wall, into engagement with the keyhole-shaped openings 92. Adjustment of the bar 9I to properly position the deflector plate is provided for by making holes in the enclosure wall, through which fastening screws 95 extend, larger than the shanks of the fastening screws.

The slice-receiving .platter 90 is removably attached to the base portion 24 of the cast frame 23 by means of clips 96 and thumbscrews 91 (see Fig. V).

In order to prevent ingress of juices and particles of meat and other commodities into the interior of the enclosure 81, the opening under the circular knife 5| is closed by a sheet 98 which is held in place by screws 99 threaded into the enclosure 81.

It will be evident that the commodity tray 38, the gauge plate09, the deflector plate 09, the slice-receiving platter 90 and the knife guard 50 all are easily removable and replaceable so that parts touched by meat or other foods during slicing operations can be easily sterilized.

Cracks and crevices have been avoided to the greatest practical extent, and the machine has been designed with smooth contours to facilitate cleaning.

A switch I00, for stopping and starting the motor 4I, is mounted on the left wall of the enclosure 81 where it can beeasily reached by the operator. When the motor is'started, it acts through the worm 43 and worm wheel 48 to rotate the knife 5| at high speed, so that the edge of the knife slices swiftly through any commodity that is moved over it.

With the knife in motion, the operator grasps the handle 40 and moves the commodity tray 88 to and fro over the knife. Each time that the operator pulls the commodity tray forward the commodity in the tray slides downwardly along thev shapedbottomofthetrayintoengagement with the face of the gauge plate, and each time that the operator pushes the commodity tray over the knife edge the swiftly turning edge cuts a slice from the lower end of the commodity, and the slice is guided by the deflector plate onto the slice-receiving platter.

The stationary shaft 26 is lubricated by oil which is carried to the shaft by a wick II from a pocket I02 in the carriage 27 (see. Fig. II), so that the reciprocating movement of the carriage on' the stationary shaft takes place with little friction, and its movement is noiseless. In order to cushion any shock and avoid any noise of impact that might be caused by striking the carriage against the end of the housing portion 25, heavy soft rubber washers 403 are placed on the shaft 25 adjacent its ends.

Located in the upper part of the enclosure 81, and concealing a sharpening device (not shown) that is mounted on a stand III and may be brought into position tosharpen the knife 5|, is a hatch, which normally is closed by a hatch cover I04 (Fig. XI), the hatch cover being normally held in closed position by a spring catch 7 I05 having a hook which engages an eye in a lug I06 welded or brazed to the inner side of the hatch cover. The hook may be dise gaged from the eye by means of a push button I 01, which engages the spring catch I05 and extends to the exterior of the enclosure.

The end wall of the hatch cover I04 fits into a cut-out section of the knife guard 55 (see Figs. III and IV) and is shaped to conform to the contour of the knife guard 56. The hatch cover forms a portion of the knife guard and, when it is swung away, exposes a short sector of the knife edge. when the hatch cover I04 is closed, the knife guard is locked into place and the guard cannot be lifted off the clips 58 for removal until the hatch cover is swung out of the way.

The embodiment of the invention herein shown and described is to be regarded as illustrative only, and it is to be understood that the invention is susceptible to variation, modification and change within the spirit and scope of the sub- .ioined claim.

Having described my invention, I claim:

In a slicing machine having a revoluble circular knife blade the edge of which is inclined from the vertical, a frame having a housing portion' extending fore and aft along the lower portion of said knife blade, a stationary shaft extending fore and aft within said housing portion, a pair of stationary parallel rails lying below said stationaryshaftacarrlageslidahlymountedonsaid stationary shaft and having a guiding roll located betweensaid pair of stationary parallel rails, said carriage having a part extending exteriorly of said housing portion, a commodity tray having adependingbracketdetachablysecuredtotbe part ofsaidcarriageextendingexterlorlyofsaid housing portion, a knife guard overlying said knifebladeandbeingcutawaytoexposethe forward portion of said knife blade, the top of said housing portion being shaped to form a smoothledgelyingalongthelowerportlcnofsaid circular knife blade and adapted to support and uide commoditia for slidable movement therealong past the exposed forward portion of said knife independently of said commodity tray.

GEORGE R. WOOD. 

